CARPETS – A little Background

Carpets date so far back into our history that it is impossible to know when they first appeared. Obviously the manufacturing of carpet requires some form of weaving; prior to weaving the immediate ancestor of the carpet was the animal skin. Carpets, in the form of rugs, possibly developed when earlier civilizations wanted to sleep on something other than the rough ground; carpets and bedding may have developed together. Alternately, carpets may have started as weaving for display purposes. Whether they were for display or protection against the ground woven carpets date back many years B.C.

More modern carpets owe a great debt to the Middle East; almost modern looking carpets in the Middle East date back to at least the 2 century B.C.; knotted carpets date back centuries earlier than this. Carpets also appeared later in place like China, but the carpet art-form remained a minor cultural influence in many oriental countries at least partly due to the scarcity of wool. The Chinese preference for art with very fine detail might also have been a factor here, as a carpet could not have ornamentation finer than the thread it was stitched from.

A few latter type of carpet include;Kidderminster Carpet or Ingrain carpets: A flat woven carpet developed in the 18th century, these have opposing patterns on either side; turn the carpet over and the light colours become dark and vice-versa. This could be useful if the carpet covered most of the floor and one wanted to change the appearance of a room; turning the carpet over could make the whole room darker or lighter.

Lotto Carpets: Produced in Turkey from the 16th century these carpets featured a complex interweaving geometric pattern, usually yellow with a red background. The patterns varied, but were stylistically similar to cast iron fences, candle holders and other ornamentation that was popular at the time.

Axminster Carpets: An English company that dates back to the mid-18th century. Their carpets were influence by Turkish methods, but were artistically styled after English tapestries. These were the extremely long carpets used in the finest room and hallways of aristocratic homes. The record for the longest carpet by this group stands at 74 feet by 54 feet.